The Amulet of Samarkand

Still embittered by his persisting binding, Bartimaeus spies on Simon in his home as a pigeon for three days. On the morning of the third day, he sees a messenger imp leave the house. He follows him and accosts him in Hampstead Heath. After violently asserting his dominance, Bartimaeus forces the imp to reveal the contents of Simon’s correspondence. One message is to the British Prime Minister Rupert Devereaux, and it apologizes for Simon’s absence at Parliament that evening, while the other is a coded message meant for Schyler, Simon’s old master. Bartimaeus then presses the imp for more information about Simon, specifically with whom he communicates the most. When the imp tells him about Sholto Pinn, proprietor of the magic artifact shop Pinn’s Accoutrements, Bartimaeus heads there.

When he arrives, Bartimaeus waits until Sholto Pinn leaves the shop for lunch before transforming into a messenger imp and pretending to be Simon’s messenger to extract information from Sholto’s assistant, a less powerful kind of spirit called a foliot. Carefully, he cajoles the foliot, who is named Simpkin, into revealing details about the Amulet, despite being repulsed by Simpkin’s pride in being Sholto’s enslaved assistant. He learns that the Amulet was government property. Officially, it was lost when someone murdered its guardian, Mr. Beecham, six months ago. Just as Simpkin is about to reveal the nature of the Amulet’s power, Sholto returns. He interrogates Bartimaeus and catches him in his lie, as he was at lunch with Simon. Knowing himself caught, Bartimaeus attempts to escape, ransacking the shop and injuring both Sholto and Simpkin in the process. Just as he is about to fly out of the shop as a falcon, a Snare spell captures him and renders him unconscious.

Two days after his Naming, Nathaniel is sick from exhaustion, and while nursing him, Martha notices the smell of incense and candles in his room—elements he’s needed for summoning Bartimaeus. On the third day, Nathaniel is well enough to travel to Parliament to attend the state address. As he, Arthur, and Martha drive, Nathaniel notices the commoners, and Arthur comments on how their dives are hotbeds for the Resistance. Before entering Parliament Square, Arthur warns Nathaniel to be on his best behavior, or else he will receive the same punishment another apprentice had received 150 years prior: being turned to stone and used as a foot wipe evermore for knocking into his master at an assembly.

As they enter, Nathaniel quickly notices that Arthur is neither well respected by nor on friendly terms with his peers, which only embitters him further toward his master. When Arthur leaves to talk to other ministers, Martha points out prominent magicians, like Jessica Whitwell, the chief of police. The prime minister soon enters, and shortly after, so does Simon. Nathaniel deftly follows him to overhear Simon’s conversation with his friend Lime and Schyler, his old master. They discuss the possibility of delaying their planned conference because Simon hasn’t yet recovered the Amulet. When Nathaniel feels that he might be discovered, he mingles with the crowd, overhearing that Simon is no longer as favored in Parliament as he once was. Martha then finds him and tugs him away from the main floor before the state address begins. The prime minister then discusses the additional funds and permissions to use draconian methods that will be given to the Internal Affairs department to stop the Resistance. Just as he is praising their elite strength as magicians, Nathaniel notices a figure slip into the room moments before they detonate a blue elemental sphere.

The elemental spirits trapped in the sphere wreaked havoc on the room. When their effects subside, Nathaniel checks in on Martha, who is dazed by the impact. Nathaniel then goes to assist Arthur, who is discussing how someone was able to infiltrate Parliament despite their multi-layered defense. Nathaniel interrupts to say that he’s seen the intruder and gives a vague description. Simon takes hold of the situation, and eventually, Nathaniel leaves with Martha and Arthur. In the car, Arthur talks about the ongoing thefts of artifacts—like the elemental sphere that had gone missing in January—made by the Resistance. Through their discussion, it becomes clear that the Resistance comprises many young people.

Bartimaeus wakes up imprisoned in a sphere as he tries to recollect what happened at Pinn’s Accoutrements. He is guarded by two utukku spirits, one of which, Baztuk, is a survivor from a battle that Bartimaeus led centuries ago in Al-Arish, Egypt. He does not recognize Bartimaeus at first, though he finds him familiar, and he informs him that he is being held in the Tower of London. Sholto and Jessica Whitwell then enter the room through a portal. Whitwell tries to interrogate Bartimaeus about his master and his purpose with the Amulet of Samarkand. He is not forthcoming because he fears Nathaniel’s Indefinite Confinement spell and knows that they will probably destroy him once he gives them the information. Just as Jessica insists, Nathaniel summons Bartimaeus.

The summoning, however, is blocked by the Mournful Orb spell that contains Bartimaeus. Jessica and Sholto eventually leave, with the former indicating that the Orb will continue to shrink in size and burn his essence bit by bit if he does not reveal the information. For hours, Bartimaeus carefully transforms into smaller creatures to avoid the orb’s wall. Meanwhile, Baztuk tries to place Bartimaeus in his memory. Bartimaeus tries to convince him that his colleague is part of a scheme that he and other afrits (the second most powerful kind of spirit) are undertaking to free themselves from magicians. The utukku bicker until Baztuk finally recognizes Bartimaeus as the destroyer of his people and attacks him with his silver-tipped spear.